My go to guitar is a Kazuo Yairi commissioned build willed to me by a wealthy friend. He went to Japan in 1982 and ordered it. His specifications were the tightest straight grain top from Yairi's legendary wood stash and the most dramatic pink and green abalone inlays. It was horribly damaged in a bad car wreck, along with my back. I have a second round of rods and screws in my spine now over nearly the entire length of my spine. I posted pics of the guitar online, lamenting it being a total loss. Somebody connected me with a guitar restoration expert in Kansas City, MO. I shipped the carnage off to him with absolutely no hope it could ever be the same again with its tone for the gods. Usually when I played it in public I would invariably be asked what I'd take for it. During the nearly a year I was without it I first had a factory order Taylor. I soon traded that for a custom shop Gibson advanced jumbo. I sold the Gibson and bought a Martin custom shop D28 with VTS. Three top of the line guitars in one year but none of them equaled the Yairi. I eventually sold the Martin as well after the Yairi was restored. The restoration expert preserved all the original wood of the Yairi and only charged me $1,500 of the $3,500 I was paid for the guitar by the at fault driver's insurance. Nobody is able to find a trace of the repairs to both sides that were split and broken all the way through. The top suffered breakage as well that was repaired so well it can't be spotted from a few feet away. Above all, the sound was actually improved! The restorer explained that by saying while Kazuo Yairi built the guitar, it had 36 years for the setup geometry to gradually settle. He put the setup back into perfect spec and improved the sound. It is the greatest example of human craftsmanship I've ever seen. I look forward to the day I give it away to it's next caretaker as it was given to me. I intend to still be alive when that happens though. It remains the finest guitar I've ever owned.